


together we sang (i'm ready now)

by hollyhobbit101



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 5+1 Things, A tiny little bit of angst, Developing Relationship, Domestic Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Domestic Fluff, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, they're so in love it's embarrassing for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:09:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28842906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhobbit101/pseuds/hollyhobbit101
Summary: It takes a while to figure out how to fit themselves together, sharp edges and all. It isn’t as golden and perfect as they want it to be, but by the end of it, well - it’s them. TK and Carlos.(and here’s the secret: neither of them would want it any other way)orfive times carlos and tk learned how to be around each other, and one time they already knew
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 20
Kudos: 180





	together we sang (i'm ready now)

**Author's Note:**

> semi-inspired by the tarlos preview when rafael silva said they were two first responders learning how to be together. also semi-inspired by the sleeping at last cover of 500 miles.
> 
> part four of this involves a fight. i felt it was necessary to include it but if you don't want to read it, feel free to skip past it.
> 
> title from ready now by dodie

It’s not an easy start for them.

They had the initial road bumps, of course, but after that… After that, it takes a while to figure out how to fit themselves together, sharp edges and all. It isn’t as golden and perfect as they want it to be, but by the end of it, well - it’s them. TK and Carlos.

_(and here’s the secret: neither of them would want it any other way)_

* * *

_i._

TK barely sleeps the first night he stays over at Carlos’s. It’s not so much the unfamiliarity (though that doesn’t exactly help) but it’s just… Being here, in Carlos’s bed, having spent the entire night. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to act.

And it’s ridiculous; TK knows this. Carlos is...well, they haven’t labelled it yet, but they’re in this now. Together. It makes sense that he’d stay over, and Carlos had _asked_ him, for god’s sake. Still. When he wakes up after a brief, fitful rest, finding Carlos’s arm slung over his chest and his own head turned towards Carlos, TK’s entire body tenses, suddenly, minutely aware of his situation.

He breathes slowly as dawn starts to creep through the curtains, watching Carlos’s face for any sign of waking. He doesn’t dare move, for fear of disturbing him. 

Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, Carlos stirs, his eyes blinking lazily open. “Hey,” he rasps, the sound of his deep, sleep-heavy voice bringing a smile to TK’s face despite his anxieties.

“Hey yourself,” he returns. He bites his lip, gaze darting away. “Is this… Is this okay?”

Carlos frowns. “Is what okay?”

“This. Me. Being here.”

Carlos actually laughs, tightening his hold around TK and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Of course it is. I don’t let just anyone sleep in my bed, you know.”

TK looks up at him and sees the sincerity in Carlos’s eyes, that he really means it. That this is okay - or it’s going to be. 

And TK begins to let go.

* * *

_ii._

It’s been six months since Alex, give or take. TK should have been happy when he realised he could no longer number the days since that night, but he’s just scared.

He’s fucking terrified, and he’s got no idea why.

He and Carlos have been doing this - properly, that is - for just over a month _(and those days TK_ can _number - 42 and counting)_ but they still haven’t named it. Not in so many words, anyway. Not in that one word.

It’s not a choice. TK wants, more than anything, to be able to call Carlos his boyfriend, and to have Carlos call him his boyfriend back. He just… He can’t force the word past his lips.

It’s been six months since Alex, give or take, and TK is terrified of the idea of having something concrete, only for it to dissolve in his hands. Not just that, though. He can’t be the one to say it first, because he’s not sure if he could stand it if Carlos isn’t ready for it either.

Arms slip around TK’s waist, lips pressing against his neck. He smiles and turns, pulling Carlos into a full hug. 

“What’s this in aid of?” Carlos asks, surprised, though he returns the hug just as tightly.

“Nothing,” TK mumbles. 

Carlos hums. “Well, much as I’m enjoying this, I do need to do stuff now.”

He begins to pull away and TK whines, mourning the loss of contact. Carlos laughs, keeping one arm wrapped around TK’s waist.

“Complain all you want, but, you see, my boyfriend is a pretty terrible cook and we do need to eat at some point.”

TK freezes. “You…” He swallows roughly and shakes his head, trying to clear the sudden static in his brain. “Boyfriend?”

Carlos’s smile falters. “Yeah… Is that not okay? If you’re not ready, I completely understand -”

TK cuts him off with a kiss. “It’s more than okay.”

* * *

_iii._

“You know you don’t have to knock,” Carlos says, grinning at TK standing sheepishly on the front step. 

“I didn’t want to be rude,” TK protests, kissing Carlos as he walks in. “What if you had company?”

“I gave you a key for a reason, TK. The reason being for you to actually, you know, use it.”

“Oh, I thought it was just for decoration.”

Carlos rolls his eyes affectionately. “ _Idiota_.”

TK grins. “You know it.”

He flops down on Carlos’s couch and drapes an arm across the back, quirking an eyebrow. Carlos huffs an exasperated laugh but heads over, settling comfortably into TK’s embrace. It’s nice, just existing together like this. Easier, too, TK’s finding. Apparently not easy enough for him to feel totally comfortable using the key just yet, but easier.

And that means a lot.

* * *

_iv._

Dating another first responder is great in many ways. Carlos gets the toll the job takes on him, both in body and mind, and they have a kind of understanding TK’s never had in any other relationship. There’s also the fact that Carlos is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but that’s more because he’s, well, _Carlos_. 

Unfortunately, dating another first responder also means that they understand each other’s jobs a little _too_ well, sometimes. It’s bad when they’re at the same scenes, one of them having to watch the other run into danger without knowing what’s going to happen; it’s worse when they have to just sit at home and wait, not even able to be there.

They deal with it, mostly. 

“Are you insane?” Carlos yells the second the door slams shut behind them. 

TK scowls, the arm not in a sling crossed defensively over his chest. “What the hell was I supposed to do? Leave her to die?”

“TK, the building was coming down! It is not your job to save everyone -”

“That is _exactly_ what my job is!”   
  


“- and you can’t save anyone if you’re _dead_!”

TK scoffs. “I knew what I was doing.”

“No, you didn’t,” Carlos insists, a finger stabbing forward. “You were just trying to play the hero, but you don’t seem to realise that your actions have real consequences, TK.”

“Of course I do!”

“Do you? You could have died today, did you think about that?”

“I was thinking about that woman who, I might add, is alive right now because of what I did. Anyway, you’re one to talk; what about that shoot-out downtown the other week?”

“I was doing my job.”

“So was I!” TK breathes through his nose, setting his jaw and looking away. “I’m going out.”

“Fine.”

“Don’t wait up.”

_(the anger drains away within ten minutes of leaving Carlos’s house; it’s funny like that. pride stops him from going back that night, but when morning comes he’ll find himself there once more)_

_(they don’t fix things immediately. but they talk, and they learn, and they heal. and, slowly, together, they make themselves stronger)_

* * *

_v._

“I love you.”

The admission comes quietly, surprising both of them. TK hadn’t exactly meant to say it; the words had just slipped past his lips without a thought. He means them, feels the truth of them deep in his bones, but he’s not sure if he’d been prepared to face up to them so soon.

See, he hasn’t said them since the night Alex left him - not in _that_ way, anyway. He’s just not sure if he’s judged this right.

TK doesn’t think all of this with Carlos could disappear, not anymore. He knows Carlos better than that, and he knows their relationship better than that. They’re good, and happy, and in this for the long haul. 

None of that stops the fear.

“Hey,” Carlos says, voice soft. TK looks at him, heart swelling as he sees his own love reflected right back at him.

“I love you, too.”

* * *

_+1_

TK can’t say when he knew that, _oh, this is my person._ The romantic in him wants to say the very first day they met, but that’s a lie. It happened sometime in the middle, when they were learning what it means to be _them_.

But it’s moments like this that solidify the feeling; moments like this that really matter.

He comes home after a long shift, moving through the house on silent feet so as not to wake Carlos, who he knows will already be dead to the world. He smiles when he walks into their bedroom, brushing a stray curl from Carlos’s forehead before climbing in beside him. Carlos stirs at the movement, but TK doesn’t feel guilty for it, not anymore.

He doesn’t sleep so well without Carlos, either.

Carlos’s arms come around him and TK nestles into the embrace, his entire body relaxing as sleep calls to him. He drifts off soon after, comforted by the fit of their bodies together.

And TK is home, in every sense of the word.

**Author's Note:**

> if you are reading this after the episode, i'm begging you not to leave spoilers in the comments, please. i personally can't watch it until 10/11am my time at the very earliest (for reference, it airs at 3am my time) and i would hate for anyone else who hasn't seen it to be spoiled.
> 
> thank you guys for reading! if you do want to chat about the episode you can find me on tumblr @morganaspendragonss!


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